Hello everybody,
Many are confused about the various realtime kernels, so here is a
reminder of the situation as of Sept. 2010 (but _please_ see
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuStudio/RealTimeKernel , which is
more detailed and continuously updated).
***Summary***
vanilla = unpatched kernel straight from kernel.org
generic = vanilla + ubuntu sauce (it's the default ubuntu kernel)
The *soft realtime kernels, prepared by changing build-time parameters*
preempt = generic + mild configuration to reduce latency
lowlatency = generic + aggressive configuration to reduce latency
The *hard realtime kernels, prepared by applying a big patch* from Ingo
Molnar to the kernel source before building:
realtime = vanilla + patch (hard to maintain and stabilize because
merging 2 pieces of code is never easy)
rt = generic + patch (even harder to maintain and stabilize because
merging 3 pieces of code is harder than 2)
***Availability***
- for Maverick, generic will be the only kernel in the archives, thus
the default kernel for ubuntu and ubuntustudio, but Alessio has been
maintaining a PPA providing lowlatency and realtime
- for Natty or later: work is being done to include lowlatency in the
official archives and make it the default ubuntustudio kernel
I hope this clears some doubts. By the way, this confusion is only going
to get more intense at release time (less informed / technical users).
Could we include some kind of note informing users about this? Why not a
"RealTime kernel help" item in the Audio Production menu, redirecting to
the wiki page?
Good day,
-- Ronan Jouchet